Congress recommends travel ban to North Korea following ‘murder’ of college student Otto Warmbier

Following the death of Otto Warmbier – the 22-year-old college student who went with an organized tour group to North Korea in March 2016 but was arrested there and sentenced to 15-years hard labor for trying to steal a political banner – the U.S. Congress announced on June 20 that the U.S. should consider implementing a plan to ban all Americans from traveling to North Korea, according to USA Today.  Warmbier served 17-months of that sentence before becoming gravely ill while in North Korean custody and spending the last year in a coma.  He was sent home last week but died immediately afterwards due to severe brain damage.

USA Today quoted Congressional Democratic Representative Adam Schiff as saying “The barbaric treatment of Otto Warmbier by the North Korean regime amounts to the murder of a U.S. citizen. The North Korean regime has shown once again that it is perfectly willing to treat Americans who visit their nation as hostages to extract concessions from the United States.” President Donald Trump and The White House also released a statement following Warmbier’s passing.

Melania and I offer our deepest condolences to the family of Otto Warmbier on his untimely passing.  There is nothing more tragic for a parent than to lose a child in the prime of life.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Otto’s family and friends, and all who loved him.

Otto’s fate deepens my Administration’s determination to prevent such tragedies from befalling innocent people at the hands of regimes that do not respect the rule of law or basic human decency.  The United States once again condemns the brutality of the North Korean regime as we mourn its latest victim.

Schiff along with Republican Congressional Representative Joe Wilson worked together last month to introduce legislation requiring any Americans wishing to travel to North Korea to first obtain a license from the U.S. Treasury Department with the stipulation that tourists wouldn’t be granted a license. USA Today quoted Schiff as saying that tourism “helps to fund one of the most brutal and despotic regimes in the world.”

By: Ace Staff